by M. B. Sztejn

Translated by Jerrold Landau

From the death of the Lamed Vavnik one could learn about his life. Aside from
the rabbi, there was in Sochaczew one other Lamed Vavnik, who protected the
city.

The key to those hidden people in whose merit the world exists is guarded under
the Divine Throne, and only G-d himself knows the secret. Their power is
exceedingly great. There is no reason to talk about them during their
lifetimes. As is the case with everything that is hidden  the more that it is
hidden the greater it is. The matter only becomes revealed after the death of
such a person. Such was the case with Yakir the shoemaker.

His countenance shone with the Divine shadow. He was pale and sublime  like a
precious stone. He had a long, wide beard that flowed over his cloak. It was a
silvery beard. Yakir Shuster the shoemaker, to whom nobody paid attention, had
a special merit For on Sabbath evenings after the candles had gone out and
the city was enveloped in a deep slumber  Yakir Shuster was awake and called
out in a soft voice, saturated with pleading, to the Jews of Sochaczew to
recite Psalms.

He did not awaken anyone from their sleep, heaven forbid, and even more so not
on the Sabbath, for he would not even hurt a fly on the wall. He only requested
that people arise for the recitation of Psalms, and his soft voice trilled:

Please hearken my beloved people

What I say to you:

The Clock has already struck three

And the time to recite Psalms has arrived.

His voice was heard from one end of the city to the other end. He did not
only awaken the Jews, but also the gentiles. He awakened the fields and
forests, and no gentile, including the priest and the administrator, was brazen
enough to chastise him for waking up people in the middle of the nights. They
disappeared before his silken voice. This was only because King David himself
accompanied him and protected him[2].

Thus was his custom year after year  in the summer and winter, in the deep
snow, violent storms, and the freezing cold, he would go out on Friday evenings
to call the people for the recitation of Psalms  and his voice would fill the
empty space of the Beis Midrash. When the Sabbath morning prayers began, the
simple folk, tailors and shoemakers, had already concluded the recitation of
the verses of the sweet singer of Israel[3],
and their voice had opened up the gates of mercy.

As things came to pass, the hand of Esau overpowered the voice of
Jacob[4], and on
Tisha Beav, the day that is marked by disaster, the gentiles were
inspired to conduct a battle, and a commotion started in the city. A notice was
posted near the citadel by the gentiles calling the Jews to battle. The Jews
stood, men and women, weeping and praying for an annulment of the evil decree.
Only one person  Yakir the shoemaker  did not move from his shoemaker's
stool. He did not raise his bright eyes, and he banged nail after nail into the
hard soles. People passed by him and pierced him with their gaze.

However what did it matter to him? He had no children who would be fitting to
conscript for the battle, and he himself was already old.

Yakir the shoemaker did not answer. He sat as if mute nailing nails into the
hard soles, and his bright eyes that sparked as the stars were gazing down. For
what comfort was there in the mouth of the shoemaker for the distraught people
who were first to turn over their dear ones to the hands of Esau?

{Photo on bottom of page 717  Reb Leib Zawadski, the founder of the Bible
study society, and his wife Frimet.}

Did He Not Promise You

By Moshe Levanon

Translated by Jerrold Landau

Many years ago there was in Sochaczew a water-drawer by the name of Kalman
Yankel.

There were several water-drawers in the town who drew water from the Bzura. In
the summer they would be dripping with moisture, and in the winter they were
covered with furs which froze like ice.

However, none of them had pails similar to those of Kalman Yankel. His pails
were tied to a heavy pole, and they looked like large casks. He dragged them
along with an erect posture, looking in front of him with protruding reddish
eyelashes surrounding his eyes, as if he accepted upon himself his burden to
atone for some sin that he had transgressed, and not for the porting of water
or any other such matter[5].

He never knew how many times he dragged pails of water, and to which houses.
When he was asked how many times he dragged water, he became perplexed and
answered with difficulty:

"More than five."

It seems as if he dragged ten, and at times even twenty, in one session.

He never requested any payment for the porting of water. This was not his job,
but that of his wife Freda. She kept the accounts, and therefore, as she was
wont, she talked disparagingly about him, and told about her difficult life
with him as she took what was owed to her.

Summer and winter, at dawn, as people were reciting the
Shema[6],
Kalman Yankel took the large pails, tied them to his pole, kissed his mezuzah
and went down to the river. He filled them with water and returned to the city.
Then he would go back, without tiring, without resting, and without uttering a
word from his mouth. The impression was given that he would be forever going to
the river to draw water; however suddenly, he removed the pole and pails from
his shoulder, and returned again to the river not in order to draw water, but
to fish with a fishing rod that was in his hand.

Nobody ever knew if Kalman Yankel ever caught a fish. And what about Freda?
Perhaps she knew and perhaps she did not. It was clear that he did not sell any
fish. He would stand at the riverbank until evening, with the fishing rod in
his hand, looking at the water. Close to sundown he would go the Beis Midrash
for the mincha and maariv prayers.

In the Beis Midrash he never moved far away from the group that sat at the end
of the table that was next to the door, beside the two large heating ovens.
From there, with his hands down, he stared at the Holy Ark, and did not move.
He only nodded his head, as if he was agreeing with the words of somebody  but
that was all. He did not answer "Amen" or "Barchu"[7].
He would stand at that edge of the table also on festivals during the
prayers, with his clean prayer shawl hanging from him. His hands were always
down, as they were when he was drawing water. Without moving he stood and gazed.

He was never honored with an "Aliya"[8] to
the Torah. They did not know if he would know the blessings to make over
the Torah  and they did not want to embarrass him. However, once a year, on
Simchas Torah, he was honored with a "Hakafa"[9].
He would make the circuit quietly, with the scroll in his hand, without
opening his mouth, as if deep in thought. He did not sing, he did not dance,
and he did not rejoice with the Torah scroll, he just gazed ahead 

They knew him well in the city. "Mothers would warn their lazy children  "You
will turn out like Kalman Yankel". Storekeepers would insult each other by
saying  "All you are is a Kalman Yankel". He went through his life as "Kalman
Yankel", and nobody ever told stories about him, except for the following
incident that took place with him:

In a hot day in the month of Tammuz[10],
around noon, he stood as usual by the river with his fishing rod in his hand.
A carriage approached the river, and a merchant came out, undressed, and
entered the water to bathe. Kalman Yankel did not pay attention, and certainly
did not speak to the stranger. Perhaps he did not even notice. The stranger
bathed, came out from the river, got dressed  and left just as he had arrived,
and silence again enveloped the area of the river. Kalman Yankel continued to
gaze forward.

Suddenly his rod started to be dragged downward, along with the float and the
bait. Kalman Yankel was not concerned. He saw this as a sign that a fish was
being sent to him from Heaven. He raised his rod, removed the silver fish from
it, and placed it in the basket that was next to him. He then noticed a paper
bag that was next to his basket. He deliberated as to whether to pick it up or
not. He was not overly excited, however his curiosity was piqued and he picked
it up. It was not a small bag, but rather a substantial one, filled with gold
and silver coins.

"Dead heads"  he thought, and they should be buried. He dug a pit, placed the
treasure inside, and put a branch on top of it so that he would be able to
recognize the burial place.

A short time thereafter the carriage returned, and the desperate merchant came
out. This was the place that he had bathed, and he had lost his treasure of
coins. He searched and searched, and looked at Kalman Yankel.

"I have lost a large sum of money, silver and gold coins, and I am distraught."

Money? Kalman Yankel did not see coins, but rather heads. He found dead heads
and buried them.

"Where?" He pointed to the branch that was placed in the earth.

The merchant leaped to the place, and exposed his lost treasure. With great joy
he turned to Kalman Yankel.

"Fellow Jew, you have saved me". He took a handful of gold coins and gave them
to him. "Take! Take! You have saved an entire family, take the wages for your
efforts!"

"Heads, dead heads, what do I need them for?"  He said.

The merchant forced the money into his hands and said:

"Take! This is not theft, Heaven forbid. This is the commandment of returning a
lost object."

"But not dead heads"

The merchant looked at him as if he was looking at a madman. He then went to
Reb Elazarel, related the incident to him, and left him money for charity.

The Rabbi took the money. There was no shortage of poor and needy people in
town. However the incident itself was mysterious to him, but he did not talk
about it.

In the evening, after the evening services (maariv), Kalman Yankel hurried to
the Rabbi and told him that:

"Immediately after he returned home from the evening prayers, his wife came
after him with an axe as if to murder him. He barely escaped."

The Rabbi sent his assistant and called Freda.

"Is such a thing possible? Did you approach him with an axe in your hand? Did
you wish to murder your husband? A Jewish woman "

"Rabbi, I don't have the strength to continue on with my difficult and
impoverished life with him. I cannot continue on. If G-d had sent him a
treasure, was it not befitting for him? He did not wish to keep the handful of
gold coins that the merchant gave him. No, I don't want a husband such as this "

The Rabbi explained to her the greatness of the commandment of returning a lost
object. Kalman Yankel stood up to the trial. He did not wish to take any reward
in return for the commandment (mitzvah). His reward would be great in the true
world[11], after 120 years.

"However, what benefit do I get from his mitzvah? Why is my life in such
straits?"

"Freda, you are correct. I decree that you should promise Freda one half of
your reward in the world to come. She suffers along with you."

"Oh Rabbi"  the man trembled.

The Rabbi remained seated in his place. Kalman Yankel was not a simple person.
He understood the greatness of his reward in the world to come.

The Rabbi stood up, approached Kalman Yankel and said:

"Tell me, who are you?"

As if he was forced to give up everything dear to him, he answered:

"Rabbi, let it be as you decided  I grant one half of my reward in the world
to come to Freda".

He hurried to leave.

Rabbi Elazarel was lost in thought. If Kalman Yankel does not wish to reveal
whom he is, he should not be forced.

However, the entire town found out about the incident, and they began to look
upon him in a different light. They no longer mocked him, and the women would
console Freda for her acceptance of her bitter lot in life:

"Did he not promise you, after 120 years".

TRANSLATOR'S FOOTNOTES

1.
Lamed Vav is the number 36. According to legend, in every generation, there are
36 extra-special righteous people, whose righteousness is a greatly kept secret
from others. A Lamed Vavnik is a term referring to such a person. Here, the
connotation is a righteous person who was not fully appreciated during his
lifetime.
Return

4.
A reference from the book of Genesis from the statement that Isaac made upon
feeling Jacob's disguise when he came to his father to receive the blessing
that was intended for his brother Esau. In this context, the phrase 'the voice
of Jacob' refers to the prayers of the Jewish people, and 'the hands of Esau'
refers to the violence of the gentiles.
Return

5.
The final phrase of this sentence does not appear to fit in to the context.
Return

8.
On every occasion of public reading of the Torah (Sabbaths and Festivals,
Monday and Thursday mornings, fast days and the New Moon), several men, the
number depending on the occasion, are called up in succession to participate in
the reading of the Torah. These men recite a blessing upon being called up.
This procedure is called an "Aliya".
Return

9.
On Simchas Torah, seven festive circuits are made around the synagogue with all
the Torah scrolls. Each circuit is called a "Hakafa".
Return

10.
The Hebrew month spanning anywhere from mid June to early August.
Return

11.
This refers to the reward in the Hereafter. 120 years refers to the fullest
possible expected human lifespan (the number of years of Moses' life), and
"after 120 years" is a term that a person uses to describe the time period
after his death, without bringing on the "evil eye" by explicitly referring to
his own death.
Return

{721}

Delights

by Y. Tz.

Translated by Jerrold Landau

Childhood games

As is the custom of all children of the earth, the
Jewish children of Sochaczew used to play various games. I will list
some of them here.

1. The game of buttons

This game was based on winning and losing. Two or
more children would play. The game took place upon the ground.
With the movement of the fingers we would bring one button close to the
other, and whoever would hit the button of his friend would win it.
This was played in pairs or alone. The mothers in particular suffered
from this game: for the children would pilfer any button from the
house, and they also did not hesitate to remove buttons from their
clothing.
The varieties, types, and values of buttons were numerous, and lucky would
be the player whose pockets were filled with the best types

2. Horse and Rider

This game was played by young children in pairs.
The main implement of play was a rope. Others used a thin stick or
a detached branch. The rope served as a harness which was placed
upon the shoulders of the child who played the role of horse. The
other child who took the other end of the rope in his hand was the rider.
The rider prodded the "horse" with shouts and whistles, and thus did they
gallop along in pairs in the outskirts of the city.

3. Cops and Robbers

This game was a delight to the players of both roles:
the robbers who are chased, and the cops who catch the robbers.

At a certain agreed upon sign, the robbers would separate
from the group and flee and hide. The cops would chase after them
and imprison those who did not succeed in hiding. The imprisonment
was done with great fanfare, accompanied by screams and shouts of corrupted
Polish and Russian swear words, as well as the tying of the hands with
a rope. A stick served as a gun or sword, and they accompanied the
prisoners to their jail.

4. Rolling Wheels

The implements of this game consisted of wheels and hoops
made of metal or wood, as well as sticks. The children rolled the
wheels, and beat them with the sticks in their hand in order to speed them
up.

This game made a lot of noise and tumult in the street
due to the grinding of the wheels against the stones of the street or the
alleyway, as well as the beating of the wheels by the children, and the
shouts of encouragement.

5. "Wars"

Older children played this game in the summer evenings,
and in particular on Sabbath and festival afternoons in the public garden,
in the courtyards of the marketplace, and in particular outside the town.
The number of participants was variable. The participants were children
who were above the age of Bar Mitzvah[12].
They were accompanied by younger children who did not go out to the "front".
These served a secondary role: they were the assistants and arms-bearers
of the older children. The wars took place for the most part by the
throwing of rocks. When the chestnut trees ripened, the chestnuts
served as missiles.

After the Germans captured the city, the war game
took place in a true ambience[13].
The warriors dressed themselves up in the remnants of military gear such as belts and
knapsacks, and they strung long narrow poles on their backs that served
as javelins. The rubble of the destroyed houses and the trenches
served as a realistic background to the game.

The participants were split into two camps and took
their posts. A brave and nimble captain headed each camp.

The war took place by the throwing of stones from
one camp to the other. Not infrequently, a warrior was wounded on
his head or on another part of the body, and blood flowed. Wounds
and dry sores were commonplace. When the stones were used up, the
assistants provided new stones.

This game was accompanied by military pomp, in particular
with the capturing of prisoners. At the conclusion of the game, the
freeing of prisoners was accompanied by an elaborate ceremony. At
first, they were exchanged one for one, and those remaining were exchanged
for arms, such as javelins, knapsacks and belts.

Episodes

Translated by Jerrold Landau

{722}

Father was Sentenced to Death

It took place in 1905. Echoes of
the fermentation of the revolution came to our city as well. In one
episode, father of blessed memory was visiting the home of a relative and
heard that the maid was insulting the mistress of the house. Her
behavior angered him, and he grabbed her by the neck and removed her to
behind the door.

The young maid complained to someone, and as a result,
father was summoned to appear before the revolutionary court at a late
hour in the evening, in a certain forest in the village of Trojanow.
However, father did not answer the summons and did not appear for the judgement,
because he did not take it seriously, or for some other reason. Later
in the day, a special messenger brought him word of the verdict that was
issued in absentia. According to him, he was sentenced to death.
Pinchas Graubard, our relative, signed the verdict.

After extensive negotiations, the death sentence
was commuted via a ransom sum of 100 rubles, and the letter indicating
the commuting of the sentence was published in the leaflet of the revolutionary
movement that appeared in our town. This small withered leaflet that
contained the letter of commutation, duplicated by hectograph was kept
in our family archives for many years.

{723}

The Blind Man

The image of "Meir the blind" remains in my memory
as he was sitting on the porch of the house of Leibish Graubard, with his
cane between his knees, winking with his blind eyes, eating the food that
was served to him, with a pleased expression upon his face. The Graubard
children were gathered around him serving him another course of food.

When the blind man finished eating and was satiated,
those who surrounded him would test his wonderful sense of touch:
they would give him a metal coin and ask him its value, and afterward,
they would give banknotes of various values, and Meir would identify them
without difficulty. Afterward, they would give him various pieces
of textile and pieces of paper and ask him their color.

The blind man would feel the material that was given
to him, "guess" the color and would not make a mistake. This was
wondrous to the children. To conclude the difficult examination,
the most interesting and delightful question test would be given:
one of the group would turn to the blind man and say to him: "Meir,
one of us will extend their hand to you in greeting, will you please identify
the person". Meir held the hand that was extended to him for a few
moments and said: "this is so-and-so the son of so-and-so".
The surprise of the children was without bound, even though they had already
proven that "Meir the blind" never makes a mistake.

{723}

The Death of the Rabbi

In my childhood they used to say that in the
merit of that Tzadik I am alive. This merit happened to me by virtue
of the following story: when I was a baby I became very ill, and
on a Sabbath eve my sickness worsened and my father  even though he was
a Misnaged[14]  ran
very late in the evening to the
rabbi and begged him to pray for mercy for me. The rabbi blessed
me by saying: "the merit of the Sabbath will stand by the baby!".
His statement took effect, apparently, as I regained my health.

When I was a small boy, father once entered into
the home in a very emotional state, with the lapel of his coat ripped in
"keria"[15].
After he washed his hands he related
that he just so happened to have been in the lumber warehouse of my Uncle
Moshe Rechtman, which borders on the house of the rabbi. Suddenly
he heard the cry: "Jews, the rabbi is dying". Father jumped
over the gate and therefore merited to be among the quorum of Jews who
stood by the bedside of the rabbi during his final moments. All of
those who were at the bedside of the deceased rent their garments in "keria".

The news of the death of the Tzadik spread very quickly
throughout the city, and with my own ears I heard children saying:
"The rabbi, he should live and be well, has passed
away".[16]

Immediately, great preparations began to be made:
people streamed into the courtyard of the rabbi and into the street.
After a short time, ever increasing groups of Hassidim began to stream
into the town. They would come on wagons from nearby places, and
by train from farther places. It is related that the Hassidim in
the larger cities hired special trains in order to come to the rabbi's
funeral. Jewish stores were closed, and even the few Christian businessmen
in the town closed their stores. The students of the cheder were
sent home.

In the carpenter's courtyard that opened onto the
street, I saw that they were preparing a new "bed".

TRANSLATOR'S FOOTNOTES

15. "Keria" (literally a tear) is a tear that is commanded
by Jewish law to be made in a garment on the occasion of the death of a
close relative. Customarily, this tear may have been made as well
on the occasion of the death of a great spiritual leader.
Return

16. Obviously, they were referring to the rabbi with
their usual expression, not realizing that it no longer made sense.
Return

{724}

Lusovniks

The youth who were in the next few weeks scheduled
to go through their physical examinations in order to determine their fitness
for conscription into the army of Nikolai were known by this name.

Prior to the conscription events, gentile conscripts
from the neighboring villages would begin to appear in the town, and they
would instill fear into the Jewish residents, particularly during the
evenings.
They would fill up the taverns, make noise and become boisterous.
Groups of drunks would then go through the outskirts of the city, and the
Jews would be wary of running into them.

It was a different situation for the groups of Jewish
conscripts. Relatively, there were very few of them, a few from the
town and the remainder from the neighboring villages. Their gathering
place would be the house of study. I knew three things about them:
they would afflict themselves, recite psalms, and at time also play practical
jokes.

The Jewish conscripts attempted to lose as much weight
as possible, so that the state of their health would be judged to be unfit
and they would be invalidated for army service. They did this by
depriving themselves of food, drink, and sleep, by smoking many cigarettes
and drinking strong tea. In order to overcome the desire for sleep,
they would gather in the evenings in the house of study to recite psalms.

Pairs of conscripts would go door to door in order
to request money for candles, so that they would be able to light up the
study hall in the nights. The residents generally responded generously
to this appeal. It once happened that one of the householders did
not donate sufficiently to this appeal, or insulted the honor of the conscripts
in some other manner, and they would then take revenge by playing a practical
joke on that person. They would remove the wooden steps from the
door of the person, and in the morning the members of the household would
not be able to leave their home. In other cases, they would remove
the shutters from the windows, remove the nameplate, or other such thing.

{724}

A Desire which was Fulfilled

Every ring of the bell in the city that told
news of a fire frightened the Jews. During the summer, many fires
broke out in the surrounding villages, primarily at night. Those
who were asleep would be awakened by the bell, get out of bed, and go outside
and ask one another: "Where is the fire?".

Sometimes, fires broke out during the day, and then
we children would follow closely what was happening around the fire.
At first there would be an alarm sounded by a bell. Whoever first
saw the fire or received news of it hastened to a special bell that was
set up for that purpose, and would pull the rope of the bell in order to
ring the bell loudly.

At the first sound of the bell, the volunteer firemen
would hasten to their posts. As they were running, they would put
on their capes, and fasten their belts to their loins. Afterwards,
groups of horses that happened to be in the area, or happened to be in
nearby stables, would be harnessed to the fire fighter's vehicles and would
gallop in the direction of the fire.

Only one thing interested me of all this activity
 the ringing of the bell. How jealous was I of the lucky person
who merited to pull the rope and to alert the entire city. I dreamed
that this honor would sometime come to me.

My dream was fulfilled in an unexpected manner:
one night the members of our own household were awakened under strong moonlight
to a fire in our own yard. I ran as fast as lightning into the street,
emotional and excited, and I began to pull the rope of the bell in order
to summon the firefighters and residents to come to help. I was trembling
from emotion and fear.

{725}

Early Morning Excursions

During the spring season, in particular in the month of May,
groups of older youth would organize excursion in the early hours of the
morning called "maiowki". For the most part, they would go
to the forest or a grove around a stream or water or a spring, several
miles away from the city.

At the set time, the first people would arrive at the meeting
place. A role call would take place to determine who was missing.
When everyone was present, they would set out. At first they would
go quietly in order not to wake up the residents who were still asleep,
however as we got farther from the city, the hikers would become louder,
and break out in song.

When the group reached their destination, they would sit on the
ground in the shade of the trees. The day's activities would begin
with a communal breakfast. They would pass the time with games,
conversation and reading. The excursion would end during the afternoon, due to
the necessity to dine with the family for the Sabbath or festival meal.

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc.
and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of fulfilling our
mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and
destroyed Jewish communities. This material may not be copied,
sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be
reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification. JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.